Conservation project video series
Province House National Historic Site
Province House National Historic Site in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island is currently undergoing its biggest conservation efforts in its more than 175-year history.
In an effort to share some of the more technical aspects of the conservation project, the Province House conservation project team has developed some new videos to showcase the behind the scenes work to conserve this heritage building.
Holland College partnership
Students in PEI’s Holland College’s Heritage Retrofit Carpentry program have finished conserving two of the original windows for Province House National Historic Site.
This partnership between Parks Canada and Holland College proved to be an incredible learning opportunity for students in the program as they gained a rare, hands-on experience conserving windows for a national historic site of immeasurable cultural and architectural value.
Transcript
0:02 Hello-Pjila’si-Bonjour Province House National Historic Site0:08 is undergoing its biggest conservation work in its more than 175-year history.
0:12 The Government of Canada is proudly investing in the long-term preservation of Province House
0:18 so it can be enjoyed by future generations. As part of a partnering arrangement with Parks
0:24 Canada, students in Holland College’s Heritage Retrofit Carpentry program have finished some
0:30 very unique conservation work on two of the original windows for this landmark site.
0:35 “I was really excited to find out this was going to be a project that we
0:39 were going to be focusing on this year…” “I think to continue to walk by this building
0:44 and say ‘hey, I was part of that restoration process’ I think is going to be pretty meaningful
0:50 to me for many years to come.” Students began this unique
0:55 conservation work in the fall of 2019. The conservation work involved disassembling
1:00 the windows and examining their condition before identifying what needed to be replaced,
1:05 manufacturing that piece and installing it. They also rebuilt and painted the window frames.
1:12 “When we first received the windows, they were in a box, we pulled them out,
1:17 we had to completely clean them off, separate all of the wood pieces, so it was kind of
1:23 a massive, very complicated jigsaw puzzle.” “With the pieces that I’ve seen, there is not too
1:30 much that is rotted or damaged. I’m actually quite impressed with how they are and it’s probably due
1:37 to them being in Province House and being taken care of every year rather than being neglected.”
1:44 “In true fashion of a historic building, we’ve used all of the appropriate material,
1:50 so when it comes to finishes, we are using boiled linseed oil paint, very period appropriate,
1:58 and very waterproof, an excellent product to use. It’s very different than most finishes,
2:04 so there is a bit of a learning curve for students and I to put that on.”
2:08 This project did not come without its challenges. One challenge the students
2:13 faced was adding weather stripping to the windows.
2:16 “Originally, the windows never had weather stripping, so for energy efficiency purposes,
2:21 we are putting weather stripping in, but that adds about an eighth of an inch on each side of
2:26 the window so they are not quite fitting back into the frame so we had to do some
2:31 tinkering here and there to make them fit so that took a little bit of work to do.”
2:36 The final step for students was reinstalling the windows at the site, which took place in May 2022.
2:48 “The whole idea was that this project was going to leave jobs in our community, which I think it
2:53 will do in droves, the other thing is to boost the educational purposes of our students. There
3:00 is a great deal of pride, so much so, that as a teacher, I couldn’t ask for anything better. This
3:05 is the best project that I could be involved in.” As a result of this invaluable partnership, four
3:12 graduating students from the Heritage Retrofit Carpentry program were
3:16 hired to assist with reinstalling the remaining windows at Province House National Historic Site.
3:21 “I always say that a student goes from being a tradesperson,
3:27 to a craftsperson, to an artisan and there is no substitute for time that can get you
3:30 between those three stages and this has been a significant linchpin in offering that transitional
3:30 stage to go from a craftsperson to an artisan.” “My students have gotten the best education I can
3:34 possibly think of. I fully anticipate that this experience will be on the resume of my graduates
3:39 for the rest of their lives, it’s that important.” Now that this work is complete, Parks Canada and
3:47 Holland College are looking at other ways for students in the Heritage Retrofit Carpentry
3:51 Program to assist in the next phase of the conservation project- preserving
3:56 the historic features while bringing the building into the 21st century.
4:01 Thank you- Wela’lioq-Merci for taking the time to watch this video about Holland
4:06 College students conserving windows for Province House National Historic Site.
4:10 Stay tuned for future videos highlighting other elements of the conservation project.
4:15 For more information, or for up-to-date conservation information, visit our website.
Exterior masonry walls
One of the most labour-intensive aspects of the Province House conservation project was the masonry work.
The final exterior stone was replaced on February 28, 2022, marking years-long intensive work to replace approximately 1,300 exterior stones and repair approximately 3,800 exterior stones.
Transcript
0:02 Hello-Pjila’si-Bonjour.0:06 Province House National Historic Site is currently undergoing an extensive conservation project.
0:12 Built more than a 175 years ago, Province House is a complex building.
0:18 The conservation project presents a unique challenge of rehabilitating the structure while respecting its heritage, character defining-elements.
0:31 RJW Stonemasons Ltd arrived at the site in January 2019 to begin preparations for the masonry work.
0:40 Before proceeding with the overall repairs to the stone walls Province House, the architects, masons and masonry
0:48 conservators work together onsite to assess conditions and decide upon final remedial measures.
0:55 We decided to kind of do an inner situ repair, so replace stones as we needed to, fix walls as we needed to.
1:02 Often, once you start to get into a renovation, it's the same as if you do a renovation at home,
1:06 once you take the drywall away and you see what's in the walls,
1:09 you don’t know what you're going to uncover.
1:11 The south-east side of the building, there was a lot of movement in the walls.
1:16 Over the years, a lot of water was coming into the walls.,
1:19 so there was a lot of separation from the outer skin to the inner skin.
1:28 In the end, we took down the wall from the cornerstones all the way down to core 16,
1:32 which is kind of the top of the first floor, that’s the ground floor, so all that was rebuilt.
1:40 I love this north side. The need to replace a great deal of stones was not necessary at all,
1:45 so there's a lot more that represents an old building that has not been worked upon and changed up on
1:53 on this north side. So it's a very special elevation for a historic building indeed.
2:02 Conservation is all about trying to keep what you can of the original and working and repairing where you can.
2:09 There have been literally thousands of repairs in this building, and when you walk along here,
2:16 you would be hard pressed to see some of these repairs.
2:20 That is a huge compliment to the quality of the masons and conservation technicians that we have here doing that work.
2:29 A quarry in Picton, Nova Scotia, provided the original exterior stones for the building.
2:35 This quarry was exhausted many decades ago, but fortunately, a nearby quarry in Wallace, Nova Scotia,
2:42 has been able to provide a very similar stone for the project.
2:47 It's a very, very close cousin to both geologically and its composition.
2:53 Frankly, it's a cleaner stone. It's got a higher quartz,
2:56 it has a better compaction, many things contribute to it as being a really one of the finest sandstones,
3:03 certainly within Canada, if not North America. The final exterior stone was replaced on February 28, 2022
3:13 on the south facing portion of the keystone on the south portico, marking years-long intensive work to replace
3:22 approximately 1,300 exterior stones and repair approximately 3,800 exterior stones.
3:32 Over time, the new exterior stones will weather and blend in with the original stones.
3:37 In many ways, the varied look of the facade created by this mix of old and new
3:44 is a beautiful representation of culture and heritage – a blend of old views and new ones; past, present and future.
3:54 There was a lot of work to be done here so it may have taken a little longer than we anticipated,
4:00 but the end result, it will be worth every hour that we spent on it.
4:04 Thank you- Wela’lioq-Merci for taking the time to watch this video about the exterior masonry work.
4:11 Stay tuned for future videos highlighting other elements of the conservation project.
4:18 For more information, or for up-to-date conservation information, visit our website at www.pc.gc/ca/provincehouse .
The search for Island stone
Finding the “right” stone to replace the interior walls of Province House National Historic Site proved to be challenging.
With all the known sources for the original Island sandstone either exhausted or lost to history, it took some geological detective work - and a bit of good luck - to uncover suitable stone in the hills of Kellys Cross, Prince Edward Island in 2018.
Transcript
0:00 Hello-Pjila’si-Bonjour. [soft acoustic music playing]
0:11 Province House National Historic Site is currently undergoing its
0:15 biggest conservation work in its more than 170-year history.
0:19 The Government of Canada is proudly investing in the long-term
0:24 preservation of Province House National Historic Site.
0:26 On behalf of Parks Canada, the Province House conservation project is being
0:31 managed by Public Services and Procurement Canada.
0:36 Our goal throughout the Province House conservation project
0:39 has been to use the same original material, as much as possible,
0:43 in an effort to maintain and conserve the building in its most original form.
0:49 When Province House National Historic Site was built between 1843-1847,
0:54 sandstone was the material of choice.
0:57 Sandstone is solid, durable, and fireproof,
1:01 all important qualities when building a structure you want to last.
1:06 Perhaps most importantly, sandstone was close at hand
1:09 and readily available to architect Isaac Smith
1:12 and his team as they worked to erect this grand structure in Charlottetown.
1:19 As the interior walls are conserved,
1:21 the majority of the original Island stones will be reused.
1:25 In some cases, where the stone is found to be in particularly poor condition
1:31 a dismantle/reassemble approach is being used.
1:36 Finding the “right” stone
1:39 to replace the interior walls of Province House National Historic Site proved to be challenging.
1:44 Crushed Island sandstone for road construction in Prince Edward Island is readily available,
1:51 but stone quarries for structural building purposes are almost non-existent in the province.
1:57 With all of the known sources for the Island sandstone either exhausted or lost to history,
2:03 it took some geological detective work - and a bit of good luck -
2:08 to uncover suitable stone in the hills of Kellys Cross, Prince Edward Island, in 2018.
2:15 Even though there is a lot of stone under our feet on this Island
2:19 it’s finding something that is going to be both compatible, but also
2:24 also have some structure to it and some chemistry that is favourable for our use.
2:27 This is for the internal portion of the exterior walls, foundations and the basement walls as well.
2:35 the original stone for the internal structural
2:39 portion of the building came from a location not far from here so the geology here
2:44 is broadly similar to the location where the stone was originally extracted.
2:48 The stones that we are pulling today are about getting a sample through this top bed of stone
2:53 that will be sent to a lab and then start looking at the chemistry and composition
2:57 under the petrographic microscope and looking at how it’s actually composed,
3:03 it’s really exciting to me, that we are here digging around for what was the original stone for the building,
3:10 Petrographic testing has confirmed that the stone from Kellys Cross is compatible, and this new stone will be used
3:19 in the interior walls of the building. In this way, we will continue to keep a part of Prince Edward Island
3:27 in the heart of Province House National Historic Site.
3:30 Thank you- Wela’lioq-Merci for taking the time to watch this video about Island Stone. Stay tuned
3:39 for future videos highlighting other elements of the conservation project.
3:44 For more information, or for up-to-date conservation information, visit our website
Portico Work
One of the first project milestones to be completed was the stabilization of the porticos. The porticos are the “front and back porch” like structures of Province House.
It took over 15 months to design, plan, and prepare for the construction drawings and specifications by a team of dedicated professionals and builders.
Transcript
0:08 Hello-Pjila’si-Bonjour Province House National Historic Site is currently
0:14 undergoing its biggest conservation work in it’s 173-year history.
0:20 The Government of Canada is proudly investing in the long-term preservation of Province
0:24 House so it can be enjoyed by future generations.
0:27 Province House belongs to the Province of Prince Edward Island but is maintained and
Project Milestones
0:28 operated as a national historic site by Parks Canada through a 1974 agreement.
0:29 The conservation project is being managed on behalf of Parks Canada by Public Services
0:30 and Procurement Canada, Canada’s centre of expertise for conserving Canada’s built
0:31 heritage.
0:32 In 1843, local architect Isaac Smith began construction on this historic landmark to
0:33 house the provincial legislature, Supreme Court and administrative offices.
0:34 One of the first project milestones to be completed was the stabilization of the porticos.
0:35 The porticos are the “front and back porch” like structures of Province House.
0:38 It is an interesting historical note that in 1844, the design was revised.
0:39 In the original plans, the portico was to be flush with the building- referred to as
0:44 the in antes position.
0:45 However, as you can see, during construction, the decision was made to have the porticos
0:48 project from the building in what conservation architects refer to as the prostyle type.
0:54 From the beginning, the foundations for the porticos were not as deep as the rest of the
0:56 building, as a result of the ad hoc construction phasing, and they began to shift over time.
0:57 The Superintendent of Public Works, Silas Bernard, reported in 1856 that the lack of
0:58 proper foundations at these areas had led to uneven settlement and tenders were called
0:59 for new foundations and steps at the porticos.
1:00 The portico foundations were reconstructed with a loose mixture of stone and rubble,
1:01 using a combination of stone from the Pictou quarries (Nova Scotia) and local PEI sandstones.
1:02 Over the years, water infiltration led to the deterioration of the roof, interior/exterior
1:03 walls and foundation, including the portico foundation.
1:04 Consultants undertook several exploratory investigations to understand the conditions
1:05 of the portico foundations.
1:06 The portico foundation walls were identified as ‘cold’ walls by the project masonry
1:07 consultants.
1:08 Exposed to the environment from all sides, without the benefit of heating from the building,
1:09 the walls were saturated for most of their existence and the freeze-thaw cycling within
Construction
1:10 the walls eroded the interior sandstone and entirely disintegrated the mortar.
1:11 In addition, de-icing salts further eroded the conditions of the mortar and stone.
1:12 The construction for the portico conservation work began in April 2019 and was completed
1:16 in January 2020.
1:19 It took over 15 months to design, plan, and prepare for the construction drawings and
1:24 specifications by a team of dedicated professionals and builders.
1:29 “Parks Canada- Portico”- crew.
1:32 “Today we are marking the completion of the portico foundations, which was a very
1:38 significant part of this project.
1:41 Probably among, if not, the most technically challenging part of this job,” Brian Willis,
1:48 Public Works Canada.
1:50 “Each one of the columns, each one of these four columns had to be suspended, held in
1:55 the air, unmoving, for a period of approximately a week and a half to two weeks,” Brian Willis.
2:01 “So they would apply a load,” Brian Willis.
2:02 “To the jacking frames…They’d hoist them in the air, hoisting is perhaps a strong
2:07 term because they are not really lifting them anywhere, they are moving them less than 1mm,
2:13 and hold them in place, unmoving, get underneath them, pull out all the old foundation stone
2:18 out and then pour a new foundation underneath it, let it back down, move over to the next
2:23 one and do it all over again.
2:24 They did that four times, they did four resets, eight resets, actually there is two porticos,
2:29 they did the north and the south at the same time and they skipped over,” Brian Willis.
2:33 “They started on diagonals and they kept going, and eventually crossed over doing two
2:38 at a time,” Brian Willis.
2:40 Foundation contractor secures reinforcing steel (rebar) for new footings.
2:46 Each new foundation (and jacking structure) were structurally designed to support a load
2:51 of 100 000 lbs.
2:53 That is the equivalent of eight adult elephants!
2:56 South portico column with temporary steel bracing and jacking frame installed.
3:07 This highly sensitive sensor detects any movement in the steel jacking frame (2.01)
3:12 South portico with jacking frame and hydraulic jacking system in place.
3:13 In this frame, the column is actually being “lifted”.
3:14 (2.04) Small excavator used to remove soil from tight
3:15 space between portico columns and main entrance.
3:16 (2.11-2.26) Original stone foundation with section of
3:17 concrete steps removed.
3:18 All of this stone was removed and replaced with a new concrete foundation (2.27)
3:21 Thank you- Wela’lioq-Merci for taking the time to watch this video about the portico
3:27 work.
3:28 Stay tuned for future videos highlighting other elements of the conservation project.
3:34 For more information, or for up-to-date conservation information, visit our website at www.pc.gc/ca/provincehouse
Interior masonry
This video delves into this fascinating process, which was completed in 2022, marking years-long intensive work to repair crumbling mortar as well as replacing approximately 108 cubic metres of sandstone.
Transcript
0:04 [Janette Gallant] Hello-Pjila’si-Bonjour0:07 Province House National Historic Site is currently undergoing an extensive conservation project.
0:12 The Government of Canada is proudly investing in the long-term preservation of Province House
0:17 so it can be enjoyed by future generations.
0:20 One of the most labour-intensive aspects of the conservation project is the masonry work.
0:25 When Province House National Historic Site was constructed between 1843-1847,
0:31 Island architect Isaac Smith and his team used a technique common for the era:
0:36 two courses of stone with rubble infill between them.
0:40 They used grey Pictou, Nova Scotia sandstone for the exterior walls
0:44 and Prince Edward Island sandstone for the interior walls.
0:48 Over time, rainwater seeped in between these two walls and had eaten away at the soft mortar,
0:57 The interior work done during Phase One of the project
1:00 provided key information about the masonry wall construction.
1:04 While still in need of significant work, the walls were in better condition than expected.
1:10 Since no stone quarries for structural building purposes currently exist within the province,
1:16 it took some geological detective work to find suitable sandstone in the hills of Kellys Cross in 2018.
1:24 In this way, we have put some of Prince Edward Island back into the building.
1:31 [Trevor Gillingwater] These stones play a very integral part to the weathering and structural aspects of the building.
1:39 We are replacing stones on the interior that have deteriorated
1:44 so we want to get an improvement of quality for anything we put back in.
1:54 to begin preparations for the masonry work.
1:58 As the interior walls were conserved, the majority of the original Island stones were reused and repaired in-situ.
2:08 The in situ approach means, where possible, the damaged walls are being repaired in place.
2:14 This approach is less invasive and protects more of the heritage fabric of the building.
2:20 In some cases, where the stone is noted to be in particularly poor condition, a dismantle/reassemble approach was used.
2:28 [Justin Guignion, stonemason] The higher you went up in the building, the more damage there seemed to be
2:33 and that’s a large part due to the water infiltration from the roof system for years.
2:38 So in the upper areas of the interior walls, they basically fell and crumbled apart as you took them apart.
2:44 There was a lot more extensive rebuilding at the top.
2:49 As you came down, we were able to keep some areas intact
2:56 Below-grade was quite a bit of work as well,
2:58 and they wanted to make sure they got new, strong material in there as much as the could.
3:08 [Janette Gallant] The process for replacing the interior stones required stonemasons to rake out all of the mortar,
3:13 about six inches deep, on the interior face of the wall.
3:17 The maximum diameter that could be opened up in one area was 0.7 square metres,
3:23 otherwise, it would affect the integrity of the wall.
3:26 [Justin Guignion] It’s a lot of cutting and fitting. A lot of problem solving.
3:32 It requires a lot of attention to detail, it requires some patience,
3:40 almost everything you do is...not incredibly fast if you want it to be done right.
3:49 It’s more complicated than some people realize, and a lot of that comes from
3:53 dismantling things in a safe fashion and being able to safely put them back together.
3:57 [Janette Gallant] The interior above-grade masonry work was completed in April, 2022.
4:09 [Justin Guignion] It's an artisan part of the trade, and the people that do it,
4:21 from different parts of the world, with different experiences, with different stones,
4:24 everyone is here with the same sort of passion for the end product of the building,
4:33 It’s been a fantastic opportunity for myself and for anyone else that has gotten to work on the project.
4:42 [Janette Gallant] Thank you- Wela’lioq-Merci for taking the time to watch this video about the interior masonry work.
4:49 Stay tuned for future videos highlighting other elements of the conservation project.
4:54 For more information, or for up-to-date conservation information, please visit our website.
5:00 [Music fades]
5:09 [Music: "O Canada" opening notes]
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